1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for moving decoys. More particularly, the invention relates to a system for animating floating decoys of the type used to attract waterfowl and the like. The invention especially relates to a system for simultaneously animating several decoys to create a natural environment to attract game.
2. Known Art
One of the principle difficulties for duck hunters when attracting game is to create and/or maintain a site that appears natural and thus inviting to the potential game. For this reason, blinds and/or other concealment devices are carefully constructed to blend into the landscape to hide the hunter. A common practice of many hunters is to place floating decoys in the vicinity of the blind to enhance the natural appearance of the area. It is also not uncommon for a plurality of decoys (i.e. a decoy spread to be deployed immediately adjacent the hunter's blind. Typically, duck hunters may employ as many as 10 to 20 decoys while geese hunters employ especially large numbers of decoys (i.e. sometimes hundreds).
Conventional decoys typically include a unitary buoyant body. One such conventional duck decoy is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,650. The device includes a floating decoy with a buoyant body and an anchor connected to the body by a cord. The anchor holds the decoy in place on the body of water while the still and lifeless decoy floats thereupon to attract game. While great strides have been made in the physical appearance of decoys, a significant problem of animating the decoys so that they more accurately simulate living ducks remains.
Various attempts at animating individual decoys have been proposed with little practical success. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,722 shows a waterfowl decoy that is motorized to randomly move in response to propeller activation. This decoy has significant additional structures, including a keel and rudder, that are not typically present upon conventional decoys.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,439 shows a remote controlled floating decoy that is both self-propelled and that has moving body parts. This decoy has a buoyant body resembling a game bird with an internal receiver, propulsion system and rudder. The receiver is responsive to commands from a transmitter and provides electrical control signals to a plurality of servomechanisms and associated linkages in response to the commands. The propulsion system and rudder are also responsive to the commands to enable a user to control the decoy to provide directed locomotion. This decoy is also not a conventional decoy in that it is substantially more complex and structurally different than a conventional decoy.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,637 shows a decoy that is animated by the wind. The decoy is mounted upon a rod. The decoy swings about the rod like a weather vane to simulate natural body and head lateral and frontal movements and to tilt when a mild breeze impinges on the body of the decoy. These types of decoys are also not structurally similar to conventional decoys.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,619 shows an animated waterfowl decoy with structures that imitate the appearance of moving wings. The decoy has a rotating vane with a light and dark side. The rotation of the vane produces the appearance of symmetrical lateral movement to simulate the flapping of a bird's wings. Again, this device is not structurally similar to conventional decoys.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,614 shows an animated bird decoy including a body with a pivoting mechanism mounted therein. The pivoting mechanism pivots the body relative to a support assembly inserted into the earth. The device requires modification of the decoy body to insert the pivoting mechanism therein and is more complex than a conventional decoy.
Instead of animating a single decoy, some devices have been proposed that animate several decoys simultaneously by water movement or the like. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,375,337 and 5,566,491 are adapted to disturb water to create ripples that in turn cause decoy motion. The decoy motion is intended to attract game.
Still other attempts have been made to animate multiple decoys by providing motor devices connected to several decoys to move the connected decoys simultaneously. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,422,257 and 4,535,560 both show devices for simultaneously moving multiple decoys. Both of these devices are adapted to move the decoys on top of the water and require elaborate structures. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,257 uses a carousel structure mounted above the water that can be seen by approaching game. U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,560 uses a complex underwater structure requiring multiple anchors and a remote power source. Thus, significant portions of the invention must be installed underwater.
The known art thus teaches decoy movement on the water surface. Such movement is desirable in that it further convinces approaching game animals of the safety of the hunting area while permitting the hunters to remain undetected. However, the known art fails to provide an effective and easily deployable method for attracting game to a hunting area that adequately animates multiple decoys to enhance the desirability of the area.